Kathmandu, Nov. 27 -- Respiratory wards at Kathmandu's Bir Hospital and the TU Teaching Hospital are overwhelmed as cases of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, and other respiratory infections have surged amid falling temperatures and rising air pollution.

At Bir, all 24 beds in the respiratory ward are full, and doctors have had to admit patients to other wards, as intensive care units are also operating at full capacity.

"Beds in the intensive care unit remain packed all the time and the number of patients with respiratory tract infections has risen significantly in recent weeks," said Dr Aashes Dhungana, a pulmonologist and a critical care physician at Bir Hospital. "Some of the patients require intensiv...